Chapter 105: The Nest

A few minutes later, the last centipede also had its head pulled off by Chen Ling and completely lost its life.

"Hoo..." Chen Ling slowly stood up from the pool of blood. In the silent, thick fog, he was the only one left standing.

Chen Ling scanned his surroundings. The residents behind the windows were terrified and immediately lay on the ground, afraid to make eye contact with this living Yama... Chen Ling had solved all the trouble on this street, which made him the biggest trouble on this street.

Chen Ling walked along the street. Faint sobbing came from the ruins of one of the buildings.

Amidst the fragments of a broken door, a woman was holding her child, kneeling before a corpse so bitten it was unrecognizable, crying her heart out.

Chen Ling recognized this family. In years past during the Spring Festival, he had even brought Chen Yan to their house to mooch candy and oranges.

Seeing this, Chen Ling didn't have much of a reaction. Perhaps because his mind was influenced by the divine path, his empathy had been almost completely erased. Even though this family had once been close to him, at this moment, it was like watching a movie or a performance; there were no ripples in his heart.

"Just now, did that monster come knocking?" Chen Ling asked.

The woman was stunned for a moment and nodded frantically.

"Did you respond?"

"...We... we responded." The woman’s body trembled uncontrollably. She looked at the corpse in front of her. "I wanted to tell him not to make a sound... but he insisted on asking who was knocking, and then the monster outside said it was looking for... the King?"

"And then?"

"Then we realized something was wrong and stopped talking, but it broke in anyway, and then..." The woman’s voice became increasingly choked.

"...Officer Chen Ling, we were knocked on too, but we didn't answer..." Just then, Boss Xu from next door carefully pushed open his door. "I heard that disasters have their own domains and ways of killing. That monster... it wouldn't be killing people based on the knocking, would it?"

Chen Ling looked at Boss Xu in surprise. Although this man was timid, his mind was quite sharp.

"As of now, it’s very likely." Chen Ling nodded.

Chen Ling had heard of the existence of "disaster domains" before, but so far, he hadn't fully deduced the domain ability of this disaster, only that it was suspected of being able to control human bodies through shadows... and killing by knocking.

Chen Ling didn't linger and continued walking forward.

There were eight families attacked by the disaster on Frost Street, and almost none were spared. The family that had only lost one person was considered lucky. Two of the households had been gnawed until not a single person was left, leaving only broken piles of meat on the ground.

And this was with Zhao Yi escaping back early to report to Chen Ling... If it had been any later, the number of casualties would likely have doubled.

"Disaster invasion on Cold Moon Street! Five have appeared so far!"

"Four invaded Cold Wind Street!"

"There are several here on Cold Snow Street... Damn it, they’re rushing over!"

Terrified cries from the enforcers came over the walkie-talkie, followed by a series of static...

"So it’s not just Frost Street..." Chen Ling’s expression was grave.

"This is Xi Renjie. I’ve cleared Cold Wind Street and am on my way to Cold Snow Street." The walkie-talkie voice sounded again. This was finally good news. As a Second-Stripe Enforcer, Xi Renjie’s combat power was not weak.

"How is it over at Chen Ling’s?" Han Meng’s voice sounded.

Chen Ling held up the walkie-talkie and replied calmly,

"Frost Street cleared."

"You’ve already finished killing them?" Xi Renjie’s voice couldn't hide his surprise.

He had fought these disasters and knew their strength. For Chen Ling, a newcomer who had just stepped onto the Path of the Soldier God, to clear an entire street in such a short time was truly surprising.

Chen Ling gave a faint "mm."

"By the way, where did you go?" Chen Ling asked, as if remembering something.

"I’m on my way to the steel mill."

……

In the thick fog, a black afterimage flashed rapidly over District 3!

The wind whipped his trench coat, which bore four stripes, making it snap loudly. Han Meng’s calm eyes stared at the approaching factory area in the distance, and he spoke slowly:

"This is a reproductive-type disaster. If you don't destroy the mother, the sub-entities will be endless... You clear the streets first, I’ll handle the mother."

Han Meng put away the walkie-talkie, his figure streaking across the night sky like a black meteor, landing steadily in front of the factory area.

The wind from his coat hem blew up the sand and stones on the ground, and the thick fog was rolled into a vacuum area. Han Meng looked at the pitch-black, wriggling factory in front of him, his eyes narrowing into a dangerous arc.

"...Troublesome."

Han Meng’s appearance seemed to disturb the shadows in the thick fog. The pitch-black factory surged violently. If one looked closely, they could see countless slender centipedes crawling on its surface, rolling toward Han Meng outside the iron gate like a tide!

This factory area had long since been occupied as a disaster nest, and now, a dangerous intruder had appeared in this nest.

"To breed such a terrifying number of sub-entities in one day means the mother’s own rank is at least Fifth Tier..." Han Meng held his gun in one hand and took a cigarette from his pocket with the other, putting it in his mouth and lighting it with a lighter.

He took a deep breath, and the orange flame burned a corner in the thick fog. At the same time, an invisible domain expanded beneath his feet.

He raised his muzzle, aimed at the swarming shadow tide, and muttered to himself.

"Judgment... begins."

Bang—!!

Invisible bullets left the barrel, instantly carving a vacuum area several meters wide in the black tide. All the shadow centipedes in that path were deconstructed to the molecular level and completely dissipated into nothingness...

Countless shadows rushed out of the iron gate, first expanding in all directions, then contracting toward the center, surrounding Han Meng. A rough estimate put the number at over a hundred!

Han Meng pulled the trigger repeatedly, the power of judgment tearing one gap after another in the tide. But under the encirclement from all sides, Han Meng’s area of movement was still shrinking rapidly. It was difficult to protect himself against such a massive number of enemies with just this single-caliber weapon.

If viewed from the sky, Han Meng looked like an isolated island about to be submerged by shadows. As the water level rose, it seemed he would soon be swept away.

Han Meng frowned. Just as he was about to be submerged, his palm suddenly lifted.

An iron rod that had been snapped by the shadow centipedes vibrated and automatically flew into his palm!

Han Meng held the gun in one hand and the iron rod in the other, spinning it at high speed in his palm several times before slamming it into the ground!

Thud—!!

Visible ripples swept in all directions, and the earth cracked inch by inch!

The power of deconstruction mixed into these ripples and swept across. The dozens of shadow centipedes closest to Han Meng exploded on the spot, and the area covered by the domain turned into a vacuum again, as if an invisible giant hand had forcibly erased all matter here. The terrifying destructive power of the [Judgment] path was displayed to the fullest at this moment!

Han Meng’s gaze locked onto the factory. He pulled the iron rod from the ground and threw it like a javelin. A black thunderbolt streaked across the firmament in an instant!

Boom—!!!

A hole over ten meters wide was smashed into the tall steel mill. The thick walls seemed to evaporate into thin air. Through the hole, one could see a giant centipede crouching inside, its face—which was just a dark red mouth—slowly turning in this direction.

Han Meng stood on the shattered earth, his gaze piercing through the surging black tide, locking onto the behemoth inside the factory.

"Found you."